Truly Agreed, 2016

565.034. 1. If the state intends to seek a sentence
of life without eligibility for probation or parole for a person
charged with murder in the first degree who was under the age
of eighteen at the time of the commission of the offense, the
state must file with the court and serve upon the person a written
notice of intent to seek life without eligibility for probation
or parole. This notice shall be provided within one hundred twenty
days of the person's arraignment upon an indictment or information
charging the person with murder in the first degree. For good
cause shown, the court may extend the period for service and
filing of the notice. Any notice of intent to seek life without
eligibility for probation or parole shall include a listing of
the statutory aggravating circumstances, as provided by subsection
6 of this section, upon which the state will rely in seeking
that sentence. 2. Notwithstanding
any other provisions of law, where the state files a notice of
intent to seek life without eligibility for probation or parole
pursuant to this section, the defendant shall be entitled to
an additional sixty days for the purpose of filing new motions
or supplementing pending motions. 3.
A notice of intent to seek life without eligibility for probation
or parole pursuant to this section may be withdrawn at any time
by a written notice of withdrawal filed with the court and served
upon the defendant. Once withdrawn, the notice of intent to seek
life without eligibility for probation or parole shall not be
refiled. 4. After the state
has filed a proper notice of intent to seek life without eligibility
for probation or parole pursuant to this section, the trial shall
proceed in two stages before the same trier. At the first stage
the trier shall decide only whether the person is guilty or not
guilty of any submitted offense. The issue of punishment shall
not be submitted to the trier at the first stage. 5.
If the trier at the first stage of the trial finds the person
guilty of murder in the first degree, a second stage of the trial
shall proceed at which the only issue shall be the punishment
to be assessed and declared. 6.
A person found guilty of murder in the first degree who was under
the age of eighteen at the time of the commission of the offense
is eligible for a sentence of life without eligibility for probation
or parole only if a unanimous jury, or a judge in a jury-waived
sentencing, finds beyond a reasonable doubt that: (1)
The victim received physical injuries personally inflicted by
the defendant and the physical injuries inflicted by the defendant
caused the death of the victim; and (2)
The defendant was found guilty of first degree murder and one
of the following aggravating factors was present: (a)
The defendant has a previous conviction for first degree murder,
assault in the first degree, rape in the first degree, or sodomy
in the first degree; (b) The
murder was committed during the perpetration of any other first
degree murder, assault in the first degree, rape in the first
degree, or sodomy in the first degree; (c)
The murder was committed as part of an agreement with a third
party that the defendant was to receive money or any other thing
of monetary value in exchange for the commission of the offense; (d)
The defendant inflicted severe pain on the victim for the pleasure
of the defendant or for the purpose of inflicting torture; (e)
The defendant killed the victim after he or she was bound or
otherwise rendered helpless by the defendant or another person; (f)
The defendant, while killing the victim or immediately thereafter,
purposely mutilated or grossly disfigured the body of the victim
by an act or acts beyond that necessary to cause his or her death; (g)
The defendant, while killing the victim or immediately thereafter,
had sexual intercourse with the victim or sexually violated him
or her; (h) The defendant killed
the victim for the purposes of causing suffering to a third person;
or (i) The first degree murder
was committed against a current or former: judicial officer,
prosecuting attorney or assistant prosecuting attorney, law
enforcement officer, firefighter, state or local corrections
officer; or against a witness or potential witness to a past
or pending investigation or prosecution, during or because of
the exercise of their official duty or status as a witness.